With the searing final blow from "Elemental Hero Heat," Youyu's first battle against Doma came to a close.
The Doma Believer named Bourbon let out a shrill scream amidst the burning flames, and his life points (LP) were reduced to zero.
As the result was determined, a loser appeared, and simultaneously, The Seal of Orichalcos began to react. The holy green array slowly rotated, then quickly contracted, gathering under Bourbon's feet.
The emblem above this Orichalcos Believer's head became increasingly radiant. He began to groan miserably, his figure blurring in the ascending beam of light. The green light shot into the dark clouds, as if an invisible hand had gripped his soul, violently pulling it out of his body.
After that, he dropped like a puppet with its strings cut, falling to the ground with a thud.
The The Seal of Orichalcos card fell from the Duel Disc and landed on the ground. Above the six-pointed star on the card image appeared Bourbon's face, representing his sealed soul.
After the duel ended, Youyu turned his head slightly to glance at the viewpoint in the shadows of the second floor, which was now empty.
The Three Musketeers of Doma had quietly left the building before the duel ended.
...
Amelda, Rafael, and Valon were now racing through the district under the night sky on their sci-fi style motorcycles, quickly leaving the branch of the Industrial Illusions Society far behind.
"'Masked Hero,'" Valon said casually while riding his bike, "a series I've never heard of."
"It must be a new series Pegasus designed specifically for this Duel King," Rafael replied. "It seems even our Doma's intelligence network has loopholes."
"Speaking of which, don't you care about your subordinates?" Valon asked, turning his head. "Your capable subordinate, Gulimo, also lost in his duel with Muto Yugi, and now Bourbon lost to this Youyu... They should have been your stronger subordinates, right?"
Rafael replied indifferently, "It doesn't matter. They indeed have a good affinity with the power of Orichalcos, but they are not irreplaceable. They've accomplished their mission by probing information from two Duel Kings."
"Hmph, it's no big deal," Amelda said dismissively. "Even if that Youyu has new cards, it doesn't matter. No matter how powerful the cards, they can't surpass the power of Orichalcos. Whatever stands in our way, we just need to crush it."
Implying, isn't it just printing a few new cards?
Who doesn't have their own card printing?
When it comes to card printing, Doma is second to none, every card they make seems like a fake card.
For example, the Trap Card called "Soldier Uprising" that Amelda used when dueling Kaiba in the animation, which can send all the opponent's hand cards to the graveyard, and then destroy all cards controlled by the opponent on the field.
Any sensible game designer would probably never come up with an effect like that…
But you know, what sets Doma apart from Ghouls and Noah is that the cards they use, even with their overpowered effects, are actual cards.
The cards made by Doma are different from the effects Noah scribbled in the Virtual World. The cards Noah created in the Virtual World are mere data, just like his Deck Commander rules that can only bully people in the computer world.
But the cards of Doma are different. Every card they make possesses the unique spirituality of Duel Monster Cards, containing mysterious powers beyond the scope of contemporary scientific explanation. (Kaiba holds a different opinion)
The reason Doma can make such impressive cards is that they truly possess such powerful levels of force.
In the rules of the Duel Monsters card game, the strength of dark forces is directly reflected in the corresponding card effects.
For instance, the supreme existence in the Yu-Gi-Oh world, the God of Illumination Horakhty, manifested its divine power with a card effect that declares an instant win for the player the moment it's summoned.
The stronger the power, the stronger the card it can manifest. From this perspective, the cards with seemingly fake effects that Doma produces are precisely the testament of their formidable power.
But for this reason, Youyu appears a person to be wary of in their eyes.
First, there was the unheard-of "Elemental Hero" series, and now an unknown power called "Masked Hero"...
Youyu, who continues to summon these powerful heroes for duels, also becomes an elusive opponent in the eyes of Doma's Three Musketeers.
The Three Musketeers stopped speaking the rest of the way. Valon twisted the motorcycle throttle, leading the charge with a step on the gas pedal, and the three motorcycles tore through the night, disappearing at the other end of the street.
...
Youyu was now squatting, inspecting the sleazy guy lying on the ground with a broken expression and his tongue out, his soul being drawn away.
He noticed that the small pendant hanging around Bourbon's neck seemed to have shattered after the duel ended.
That should be the Orichalcos Talisman. Although The Seal of Orichalcos can grant any ordinary person the power to rival top-level experts, it also comes with risks.
People without a Protective Talisman or extraordinary power face the risk of backlash when reckoningly using The Seal of Orichalcos.
And the The Seal of Orichalcos Bourbon had used, already sealed with his own soul.
Doma's Three Musketeers fled before the duel ended, probably deeming Bourbon insignificant, not bothering to recover even the card that sealed his soul.
Indeed, a large organization like Doma probably doesn't lack such cannon fodder.
However, the depiction of the animation gives Youyu a somewhat natural illusion about the organization Doma.
In reality, the Doma Organization has existed for millennia, capable of influencing national politics and controlling armies, suggesting considerable strength, but the iceberg-like depiction in the animation can easily give a misleading impression.
After all, aside from the low-level thugs who show up to get defeated at the start, the entire Orichalcos arc in the animation only features Rafael, Valon, and Amelda from start to finish.
Valon, rather than being interested in Doma's great ideals, seems more interested in wooing women, constantly clashing with Jonouchi, with the sole aim of winning over Kujaku Mai.
Hey, you know, although Valon didn't win Mai in the end, he developed a deep rapport with Jonouchi during their soul clashes, even building revolutionary friendships. These two rivals ended up having more fun together than with Mai, almost sidelining her...
Meanwhile, Amelda didn't seem all that interested in Doma's ideals either; he was more focused on Kaiba, wanting to duel with him seriously. In their final battle on a plummeting plane, Amelda had the chance to perish together with Kaiba by stalling for time, but was persuaded by Kaiba's Convincing Power and gave up the opportunity to have Kaiba lose a formidable enemy...
If we must say, Rafael was probably the most loyal of the Three Musketeers, even achieving the feat of "first killing the Pharaoh" at one point.
Yet, in the end, he too was washed clean by Dark Yugi's Convincing Power, and even wanted to return and reform their leader, Dartz.
In summary, from the characters that have appeared in the animation, Doma seems to consist only of minions, cannon fodder, womanizers, those with unstable positions, and traitors.
Initially, there was only Rafael diligently working in line with the leader, yet even he was 'converted,' and even thought of preaching to the leader. It's like if Gin from the neighboring distillery suddenly became enlightened by the words of the kid detective and turned back to suggest to the leader that they should turn over a new leaf...